The main elements of the €500 million aid package for EU farmers have now been published in the Official Journal, with Germany receiving the largest allocation, followed by France and the UK.
Intended as an urgent response to the difficult situation witnessed notably on the EU dairy market, the support package provides Member States with flexibility on how they want to use the € 420 million targeted aid to directly benefit farmers.
The support package is also intended to lessen the impact of low pigmeat prices, and the drought in Central Europe this summer.
Member States also have the possibility to double this sum by matching it with a nationally-funded "top-up" of up to 100 per cent of the aid they receive from the EU budget.
€420 million for targeted aid
As the centrepiece of the support package, the Commission has made available € 420 million to support farmers in sectors which have been mostly hit by the current market situation.
Member States have flexibility to decide how to target this support on the basis of objective and non-discriminatory criteria, and must inform the Commission of its intention by the end of December 2015.
Allocations to Member States [see table below], are based on national milk quotas (2014-15), with additional amounts to reflect those with lower prices, those more affected by the Russian embargo, and further amounts reflecting feed crop problems related to drought.
Member States need to pay out these funds to their farmers before the end of June 2016.
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